Khap mahapanchayat calls for end to female foeticide in UP

A day after a Supreme Court-appointed panel called for a ban on khap panchayats, a khap mahapanchayat in Jasoi took a positive step, calling for the eradication of female foeticide, which has skewed sex ratio in the state.

On Wednesday, the Sarv Khap Panchayat - attended by representatives of four khaps and other community groups - approved the idea of forming an 'observation wing' of village women to put an effective check on such cases. It was also suggested that the doctors responsible be charged with murder, rewards be announced for informants and the parents be socially boycotted.

While UP has 908 girls against 1000 males at birth, the ratio is very low in districts like Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and Meerut. In the last census, Muzaffarnagar had recorded 886 girls against 1000 boys, Meerut 885 and Baghpat 855. While khaps did not soften their stand on same gotra marriages, they put a positive foot forward in other areas regarding women.

"The SC should understand the functioning of khaps before banning them," said Naresh Tikait, head of Baliyan khap.

Supporting the decision of Baghpat's Asara panchayat, which has banned cellphones and jeans for women, he said, "Their decision was for rural women, not for those in MNCs."